This
program provides grants and cooperative agreements for biological,
socio-economic, and physical science research on the stocks of
fisheries resources and protected resources of the United States
and their environment. This research is to contribute to the
optimal management of these resources for the benefit of the
Nation. Unallied Science Projects provide grants and cooperative
agreements to develop innovative approaches and methods for marine
and estuarine science.
This
program benefits Federal, State, and local governments, including
their universities and colleges; U.S. territorial agencies; federally
and State-recognized Indian Tribal governments; private universities
and colleges; private profit and non-profit research and conservation
organizations and/or individuals.
In
the Southeast this program has been used to fund research on
stock enhancement of marine fisheries species through aquaculture
and to investigate the biology of red drum. Funds from this program
also support the protection of threatened and endangered marine
species in the states of Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina
and Florida. This includes counting and protecting sea turtle
nests, participation in the sea turtle stranding network, and
protection of right whales during calving season via an aerial
early-warning system for ships to prevent whale/vessel collisions.
